Contemporary Artist

The Battle with the Boys in Blue

The Battle with the Boys in Blue

The Battle with the Boys in Blue.
The Battle with the Boys in Blue was inspired by the Stokes Croft riot in Bristol in 2011. It is a frenzied battle scene where policemen with bully clubs beat and trample indiscriminate figures; bodies can be witnessed flying through the air and limbs explode in bright pigments across the canvas with stylistic qualities which hark back to principles of Vorticism, Constructivism and Futurism. The faces and identity of both the police and the public are deliberately left feature-less as a comment on the nature of violent battle and to open up debate as to who was right and wrong in this instance of public disturbance.
Unlike the riots in other parts of the UK there was a moral beginning to the protest in Stokes Croft when people gathered to voice their discontent at the opening of a Tesco’s which bypassed any input from the local community. A heavy handed response from authority figures escalated the situation which then turned ugly. The work is a social document to our rights and responsibilities as citizens in a democratic country-we reserve the right to demonstrate and should not be afraid to do so but at the same time we must respect this hard won freedom.
The painting itself is arranged over 12 separate canvases which each tell an individual story but when arranged together for a massive work which measures 6 metres by 1.5 metres and took seven months to complete.
Oil on Canvas. 60" x 240" x 1.5". 2011/12. £38,000.00.

Part 1-The Battle with the Boys in Blue

Part 2-The Battle with the Boys in Blue

Part 3-The Battle with the Boys in Blue

Part 4-The Battle with the Boys in Blue

Part 5-The Battle with the Boys in Blue

The Battle with the Boys in Blue was inspired by the Stokes Croft riot in 2011. It is a frenzied battle scene where policemen with bully clubs beat and trample indiscriminate figures. Bodies can be witnessed flying through the air, limbs exploding in bright pigments across the canvas. The faces and identity of both the police and the public are deliberately left featureless as a comment on the nature of violent battle and to open up debate as to who was right and wrong in this instance of public disturbance. Unlike the the riots in other parts of the UK there was a moral beginning to the protest in Stokes Croft when people gathered to voice their discontent at the opening of a Tesco supermarket which bypassed any input from the local community. A heavy handed response from authority figures escalated the situationwhich then turned ugly. The painting is a social document to our rights and responsibilities as citizens in a democratic country-we reserve the right to demonstrate and should not be afraid to do so but we must also respect this hard-won freedom. The painting itself is arranged over 12 separate canvases each telling a short story but when arranged together complete the story as a whole. It is a huge painting measures 6 metres by 1.5 metres and took seven months to complete.